When their wildly comical new show The Great premieres on Hulu this week, stars Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult plan to celebrate quarantine-style. (May 14)
AP Entertainment
There’s more great TV on Hulu than you may realize. 
Although the streaming service has plenty of original series and makes network series from ABC, NBC and Fox available the day after they air on TV, there is more to its library of TV shows. The streamer has golden oldies (“The Golden Girls”), modern classics (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) and reality gems (“Top Chef”), among many other choices. 
There is so much good TV on Hulu, in fact, it can be hard to find the right show to watch at any given moment or keep track of what’s still on the service, and what might be gone. 
To help your binge-watching, we have curated the best of the TV shows Hulu has available to stream as of November 2020 (in alphabetical order).
Don’t have Hulu? 50 best TV shows to watch on Netflix right now
Or maybe you prefer Amazon: The 50 best TV shows now streaming on Prime
Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin starred on NBC’s “30 Rock.”
 (Photo: Ali Goldstein/, NBC)
1. 30 Rock
Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey and Tracy Morgan make an endlessly appealing trio in this award-winning series about NBC’s “Saturday Night Live”-style sketch comedy series. The original is almost enough to make you forget the recent infomercial the cast did for NBCUniversals new streaming service, Peacock. 
2. Atlanta
Donald Glovers audacious FX series about a college-dropout father trying to climb the economic ladder as a manager for his rapper cousin (Brian Tyree Henry) is proof of the multi-talented artist’s creative prowess. 
3. Black-ish
The ABC series follows an upper-middle-class Black family in a predominantly white Los Angeles neighborhood, as it navigates social issues. With great performances by Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross, it’s one of the best sitcoms on TV.
4. “Bob’s Burgers”
Fox’s adult animated comedy isn’t just another “Simpsons” or “Family Guy” copycat. Rather than mining the bleakest parts of modern life for laughs, creator Loren Bouchard instead made a sitcom that is sweet, silly and absurdly happy, full of original songs and nonsensical plots and burger creations. 
5. Broad City
This millennials-in-New-York Comedy Central series is both outlandish in its humor (drug-fueled trips to Whole Foods, children who shout Yas, queen!) and relatable (bad roommates, bad boyfriends). Stars/creators Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer bring their kooky world to life expertly.  
6. Brooklyn Nine-Nine
From the producer of “Parks and Recreation and The Good Place, Fox’s (and now NBC’s) workplace comedy, set in a New York police precinct, also masters fast-paced humor and an upbeat tone. 
Sarah Michelle Gellar as the iconic teen superhero in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”
 (Photo: ROBERT VOETS/UPN)
7. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Witty, funny, thrilling and occasionally heart breaking, WB’s seminal fantasy series about a high school girl on a mission to save the world is a must-watch for anyone who hasnt seen it. And maybe those of us who already have.
8. Cheers
With a superb cast (Ted Danson forever!), smart humor and a nostalgic setting, NBC’s classic sitcom set in a Boston bar still holds up after all these years.
9. Community
This slightly zany NBC comedy about a group of diverse friends attending a local community college has its ups and downs, but its funniest, most ambitious installments are among the best TV episodes ever made. The last few seasons dont quite live up to the sharp first three. 
10. Dont Trust the B—- in Apt 23
This quirky series about a nightmare roommate didn’t last long on ABC, but made great comedy, with Krysten Ritter and James Van Der Beek, who played a fictional version of himself. 
11. ER
Before “Greys Anatomy” treated us to soapy hospital drama, NBC’s huge hit was set in an emergency room. From the George Clooney days to its final few seasons, the series always knew how to balance tragedy with heartwarming elements. 
Chris Rock as mob boss Loy Cannon in Season 4 of FX’s “Fargo.”
 (Photo: Elizabeth Morris/FX)
12. Fargo
FX’s superb anthology crime series, based on the Coen Brothers movie, captures the spirit of the film in its distinctive seasons. Each installment is so good and so tonally resonant its hard to pick a favorite (nope, just kidding, it’s Season 2). 
13. Firefly
Fox’s Firefly gave us only 13 episodes and one box-office-bomb feature film, but this space Western starring Nathan Fillion is stunning. 
14. Frasier
If Cheers isnt enough for you, try this slightly more cynical and mature NBC sitcom about Dr. Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer), one of the most successful spin-offs of all time. 
15. Fresh Off the Boat
From the creator of Dont Trust the B—- comes another Hall of Fame ABC family sitcom. Especially in the first four seasons, this story of a Taiwanese American family in 1990s Orlando, Florida, was full of great, specific humor and a talented cast, including Constance Wu and Randall Park. 
Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose with the pairing of Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler on NBC’s “Friday Night Lights.”
 (Photo: Bill Records, Bill Records/NBC)
16. Friday Night Lights
The drama on NBC’s acclaimed high school football series undeniably makes it one of the best shows to binge-watch, equally entertaining for teens and adults.
17. The Golden Girls
They don’t make them like they used to, right? A visit from Dorothy, Rose, Blanche and Sophia is always funny and calming, no matter whether you’re just discovering the beloved NBC sitcom, or rewatching it. 
18. The Great
Hulus original series about Russias Catherine the Great (Elle Fanning) was a delight when it premiered last spring, a farcical royal romp from the writer of Oscar-winner The Favourite.
19. Happy Endings
One of the many “Friends”-like hangout sitcoms to emerge over the past two decades, ABC’s “Endings” is on the quirkier, more heightened side, following five thirtysomethings in Chicago. 
20. High Fidelity
Zoe Kravitz is an appealing rom-com lead in this gender-flipped take on the Nick Hornby novel. The Hulu original series subverts many cheesy tropes of the genre, while respecting what makes a romance so appealing. 
21. “Hill Street Blues”
The 1980s NBC police drama from Steven Bochco was critically beloved and a multiple-Emmy winner because it pushed the police procedural genre to a new level of intricacy and gravitas.
22. Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia
If you enjoy a certain brand of crass, cringe comedy, more than 150 episodes of this long-running FX lovingly poke fun at Philly (and Danny DeVito), with a lot of mishaps along the way.
FX’s “Justified” starred Walton Goggins and Timothy Olyphant.
 (Photo: PRASHANT GUPTA, FX)
23. Justified
Timothy Olyphant is at his absolute best in FX’s cowboy tale of a U.S. Marshal with his own code of justice and deep ties to criminals in his small Kentucky town. 
24. Key & Peele
If you’re more interested in morsels of laughter than long narratives, this Comedy Central sketch show, which jumpstarted the careers of Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, is perfect, and requires very little commitment to get big laughs.
25. Killing Eve
Sandra Oh and Emmy-winner Jodie Comer are a delectable cat and mouse duo in BBC America’s crime drama about a sociopathic assassin (Comer) and the intelligence agent (Oh) hunting her down. Season 3 (arriving Nov. 6), while not as good as the first two, still has plenty of assassin action. 
26. Living Single
Queen Latifah and Kim Coles are among the bright young stars in this rollicking twenty-something 1990s Fox sitcom about, well, singles living in Brooklyn. 
27. Lodge 49
Lost underachiever Dud (Wyatt Russell) finds purpose at a dusty fraternal order in this AMC dramedy. Sunny, relaxing and sweet, Lodge may be the chillest show around.
28. Lost
We have to go back … to ABC’s 2004-10 mystical drama. It inspired endless copycat series (The Event, Manifest, Revolution, Terra Nova), but nothing beats the story of airplane crash survivors on a mysterious island. 
29. M*A*S*H*
The CBS smash set at an army hospital during the Korean War lasted far longer than that conflict because it was just too wonderful to take off the air. A classic for a reason, the series is funny, smart and full of wonderful actors at their best, including Alan Alda, Mike Farrell and Loretta Swit.
Cate Blanchett as Phyllis Schlafly in “Mrs. America.”
 (Photo: Sabrina Lantos/FX)
30. Mrs. America
FX’s historical drama, depicting the fight for and against the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s, has a cast so talented it’s embarrassing. Cate Blanchett, Rose Byrne, Uzo Aduba, Margo Martindale and  Sarah Paulson bring the ERA era to life, helped by sharp scripts and gorgeous costuming.
31. Normal People
Hulus romantic drama captivated quarantined hearts and minds when it premiered last spring, for good reason. The adaptation of Sally Rooneys novel, starring appealing young actors Daisy Edgar-Jones and Emmy-nominated Paul Mescal, tells the story of life and love in an achingly normal way.
32. Party Down
Fans of Veronica Mars and iZombie will love this cynical Starz comedy about bowtie-sporting cater-waiters that stars Jane Lynch and Adam Scott. 
Maya Erskine, left, and Anna Konkle play middle-school versions of themselves in Hulu’s “PEN15.”
 (Photo: Alex Lombardi, Hulu)
33. PEN15
A certain swath of millennials can appreciate how, with painstaking accuracy, creator/stars Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle re-created the middle school experience of 2000 in all its awkward glory. Hulu’s cheekily named original comedy is so cringe-y you might implode from embarrassment, but its hilarious in equal measure. Season 2 arrives Sept. 18. 
34. Ramy
Creator/star Ramy Youssefs original Hulu series is a brilliant work of art, telling the story of a Muslim man (Youssef) looking for love in New Jersey and caught between his faith and modern excesses. 
The original “Not Ready for Prime Time Players” of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live”: Laraine Newman, left, John Belushi, Jane Curtin, Gilda Radner, Garrett Morris, Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase.
 (Photo: NBC/Universal Studios Home Entertainment)
35. Saturday Night Live
While you’re waiting for new episodes from Season 46, you can dive into the 45 seasons of the NBC institution for some quick laughs and topical (well, at the time) parodies. 
36. Scrubs
The sweet, silly comedy of NBC’s (and later ABC’s) long-running Scrubs, starring Zach Braff, Donald Faison and Sarah Chalke, is what we most often remember. But it’s also a celebration of the doctors who work so hard to save lives, a more realistic look at life in the hospital than high-drama soap operas.  
37. Seinfeld
If you’ve never seen Jerry Seinfeld’s landmark NBC show about nothing, it’s a great time to start. But you might want to skip the disappointing series finale. Or maybe you love it. We dont judge. 
38. The Simpsons
At a time when the quirky citizens of Springfield feel less odd than real life, Fox’s (very) long-running adult animated comedy feels almost quaint in its rude humor and pop culture parodies. But its comforting and satisfying nonetheless. 
39. Speechless
Gone too soon after just three seasons, ABC’s comedy about a family in which one son has cerebral palsy is representation of disability you’ve never seen before, with searing satire and riotous humor.
40. Star Trek franchise
Whether you want to hang with Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), original bros Kirk (William Shatner) and Spock (Leonard Nimoy) or travel to Deep Space, theres a Star Trek series for every mood.  
41. Superstore
This NBC series, about employees at a big box store, is something of a modern-day “Cheers,” a workplace comedy set outside a traditional white-collar office in a place we all have wandered into at some point. (The blue vests of the fictional Cloud 9 store might remind you of a certain retail chain). 
“Survivor” host Jeff Probst presides over a season set in China.
 (Photo: Jeffrey R. Staab, CBS)
42. Survivor
An oldie but goodie, CBSs 20-years-and-counting reality competition series shows us the best (and, the worst) of human resilience. 
43. The Terror
AMCs anthology historical horror series (try saying that five times fast) beautifully brings its time periods to life: an Arctic expedition in the 1800s in Season 1 and World War II internment camps in America in Season 2. Smart, with superb casts (Jared Harris, Ciaran Hinds and George Takei), theres nothing quite like it. 
44. Top Chef
There are dozens of food shows and chef competitions, but this Bravo staple remains the best, pitting a group of chefs in a series of grueling competitions. 
45. Top of the Lake
Starring Elisabeth Moss at her best (and eventually Nicole Kidman and Gwendoline Christie in Season 2), Jane Campions exquisite Sundance TV crime drama is about so much more than a detective on a case. 
46. The Twilight Zone
Sometimes it feels like were living in the twilight zone, so it can be comforting to revisit the seminal mid-century CBS anthology series. Its science fiction stories are still sharp and clever, with twists that surprise, delight and horrify, from a woeful pair of glasses to an alien cookbook.
47. Twin Peaks
David Lynchs eerie 1990s ABC crime drama was a ratings bonanza for a reason, even if it faded in a disappointing Season 2.Its unlike anything that had been on television before, and still stands out among similar series that popped up in its wake. 
Enrico Colantoni and Kristen Bell starred in detective series “Veronica Mars,” which moved from UPN to CW, followed by a one-season revival on Hulu,.
 (Photo: JUSTIN LUBIN/WARNER BROS.)
48. Veronica Mars
Long before she was a singing princess, Kristen Bell was a teenage gumshoe in a toxic Southern California town. A superb modern noir, the original UPN series, fan-funded film and the Hulu revival are seedy, successful and satisfying. 
49. What We Do in the Shadows
FXs vampire comedy, based on the 2014 Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement film, is farce at its absolute best, putting its gothic vampires, a boring energy vampire and their belabored human familiar in a series of ever-escalating conundrums.
50. The X-Files
The recent Fox revival was mostly disappointing, but the original was groundbreaking, thrilling and eerie. If you’re trying to fill up weeks of viewing, there are nine long seasons of Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) investigating the unknown. 
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